


Don't you forget about me

by MissAmelie



Category: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, DC Extended Universe, DCU, Justice League & Justice League Unlimited (Cartoons), Justice League (2017), Justice League - All Media Types
Genre: Comfort, Drama, Emotional Hurt, F/M, Romance, Wonderbat
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-06
Updated: 2018-09-20
Packaged: 2019-05-18 23:07:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14862044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissAmelie/pseuds/MissAmelie
Summary: She asks him, on a quiet, still day, if it was true what the songs say; That love can do anything.“Yes,” he replies, much to her surprise. “But neither of us should believe that.”To stifle the pain of separation, Diana and Bruce choose to undergo a procedure to erase their memories of each other. However, the solution proves ineffective when by chance, they fall in love all over again.Wonderbat, AU: ordinary people, no powers.





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot of this story was inspired by the movie “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” written by Charlie Kaufman, whose genius blends science fiction and the daily drama of love masterfully. The first part shows a relationship at the end.
> 
> The second part shows two people who have "just met" and think they’ve fallen in love at first sight. They do not know that they have loved each other previously until then. I hope everyone understands the concept
> 
> >> Special thanks to my inspirations:  
> SaultNPeppah | LOTSlover | MissWonderbat
> 
> >> >> Disclaimer: The characters, images and music composition do not belong to me.  
> Cover image belongs to @Dee_Stroyer
> 
> Enjoy reading!!

 

   
 

* * *

  _“How happy is the blameless vestal's lot._

_The world forgetting, by the world forgot._

_Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind._

_Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd;_

_Labour and rest, that equal periods keep;_

_"Obedient slumbers that can wake and weep;"_

_Desires compos'd, affections ever ev'n,_

_Tears that delight, and sighs that waft to Heav'n”._

**(Alexander Pope – poem ‘Eloisa to Abelard')**

* * *

 

He finds himself wondering what happened to his life. He must have had feelings at one point, must’ve been in love, yet somehow all of that has faded to dust, leaving him day after day to pick at the thought like a sore, wondering if anything in his life will every change.

He’s gotten used to being the one who is wrong and blamed for everything. He has gotten used to being indirectly told that nothing he does is write. She says she loves him, but half the time he’s not even sure she likes him.

He sees she is in the bar and he fondly recalls the memories of her. He knows he shouldn’t feel this way; Should feel a thrill when he looks at her, but there’s a numbness inside that he can’t help but shake. He doesn’t want to take her away to a cheap motel, only to mindlessly have sex and pretend their lives are fine, settling into something neither of them want, yet don’t know how to rid themselves of.

He contemplates what to do. Does he get out of there, leaving her behind quietly? Or does he want to fix them, address the problems they find themselves in rather than hide behind the silence?(...(...)

 (...)

He sits there, bitter, angry at life. He is angry with everyone’s success, bitter with the fact that he is angry, which only causes the never ending cycle to continue. She sits and stares at him, debating why she has come, and the more she watches him, the more she feels the need to send a prayer to the Greek gods of her mother, asking for the strength not to hate him.

She blames him for her own unhappiness. She blames him for the way he makes her feel about herself, as if she is no longer special; No longer wanted. He says he loves her, but by now she doesn’t believe the words that are forced out of his mouth. Her mother used to tell her love was shown through actions, not words, and his actions speak volumes. He shows no love, and she feels like shell of the person she once was in this house.

However, even through all of this anger, all of this hate, she is able to look back and find the moments of happiness that were shared between them. She can remember the way he used to hold her and kiss her. She remembers the way he would watch her dance and how he would look at her as if she were the most perfect person to have ever existed on the planet. She remembers how he would whisper into her ear, “You’re beautiful,” causing her soul to lighten, making her feel like she was on top of the world. Now, as she stands there and looks at the man, she can only think of how horrible life with him has become.

She feels as though her heart has been crushed, broken by the man who swore to love her unconditionally. He was supposed to be her life, her everything. He was supposed to be the one she could count on, the one she could turn to when the rest of the world went dark.

She would like to believe their song was one he had sang to her in the bar long ago, however she as she sits there, she can’t help but think that song now defines them.

“Am I Blue?”

She compares the lyrics of the bleak song to their horrid relationship and decides maybe it isn’t worth saving.

 

** ONE YEAR LATER **

 

He liked her. How was this possible in such a short amount of time? This was inexplicable, because it was not possible to fall in love with anyone in two minutes. Love at first sight was, well, it was not real, and he certainly could not fall in love with anyone at first sight.

No.

This was absolutely ridiculous!

But the more he thinks about it, the more he realizes it was true. Love at first sight was possible, and he has fallen in love with someone. He has fallen in love with her.

Bruce lets out the sigh he did not know he has been holding in, letting his breath escape inaudibly, as not to disturb the woman at his side. He had not been expecting this, and it was a bit odd to say the least, but he lets Diana rest her chin on his head, moving only to put an arm around his shoulders.

They both lay in bed, her chin resting graciously on his head, for several hours, wanting to remain as silent and still for as long as they can. They breath in silence, not needing to speak. The fact that they are here together is more than enough for the both of them.

He lets his hands gently touch her skin, carefully not to disrupt the comfortable silence they have; Careful not to overstep her boundaries. He continues to touch her softly, afraid this might all be a dream, smiling when she looks him in the eye. His breath is cold and ragged, but he still knows this is something he wants, as he first claims her lips with his and moves her down onto the bed, making love to her softly. His touches are soft and ghostly but she still comes, panting and twisting the sheets, making him feel even more connected to her.

Finally she gets up from the bed, her bare feet hitting the cool ground, and gazes over at Bruce. Where does this strong, familiar connection come from? He shakes his head free of his thoughts, the answer not mattering to him anymore. They are no longer strangers. In fact, he feels as if he now belongs to Diana, like he is a part of her somehow.

He watches as she makes her way back to the bed, sitting on the edge, her hand gently stroking his face.

He is asleep in minutes, exhausted from the long night, however he is able to feel Diana leave the bed, smiling when he feels her lips on his forehead, placing a small kiss upon it.

Finally Bruce falls asleep, a smile on his face, the emptiness that has consumed him for the last year gone.

 

* * *

  _“How I wish/ How I wish you were here_

_We're just two lost souls/ Swimming in a fish bowl_

_Year after year/ Running over the same old ground_

_What have we found?/ The same old fears_

_Wish you were here”_

**[(Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P16xvwMQ5A) **

 


	2. Like heaven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reminding everyone that they just imagine they just met.  
> But they already knew each other, fell in love and had a relationship.
> 
> >> Special thanks to dear ones:  
> SaultNPeppah | AikiShimizu | Sforzanto
> 
> >> The characters and music composition do not belong to me.  
> Cover image by Dee_Stroyer.  
> 

 

* * *

 “Do you think our love can do miracles?

I think our love can do everything we want.

That's what brings you back to me all the time”.

**(Caio Fernando Abreu, Brazilian poet)**

* * *

 

 

**Past **

 

At first, Bruce had convinced himself that he could be happy with Diana. They had fed on each other's bodies, giving into the temptation that they had tried to hold back from, reveling in the feelings each brought the other. . It was only when it was late had they realized that they were feeding on their souls as well.

At first, their love had been glorious, magnificent, and unlike either had ever felt in their lifetimes. They had both wanted more, need more, and they both willingly gave it. But, as time progressed, that spectacular love grew dim, until it began to cause pain. By then it was too late, as they wanted to leave, but neither wanted to be the one to do so; they were slaves to each other. 

There was an aura of regret and desolation clinging onto every corner of Bruce's mansion, that permeated the walls, the furniture, and even the air. It’s heavy oppressive cloud threatened their relationship, threatened to have Diana flee for her sanity, otherwise she’d drawn in the black pits of her emotions. It was times like these Diana had wished her emotions came with an off switch, so she would not have to feel anything at all. 

Unfortunately, this was her life with Bruce, boring and repetitive. She would share a meal with Alfred, or in a fine restaurant with Bruce, where he would try to woo her with the same gimmicks he used for every other girl. And every time, no matter how much she objected, she would go along with it; it was Bruce’s world, his friends, his environment, she was just along for the ride.

At first Diana had fought to forget his past, not wanted to be reminded of each and every woman he had slept with before her. She hated how each of them had a piece of Bruce, a piece that should have belonged to her, but a piece he had given away so freely. It had kept her up at night and she had been careful not to let Bruce hear her cries; her mind was at a constant war with itself.

The rational part of her brain told her she needed to let it go, move on with Bruce, and forget all the women he had loved prior. He had had a life before her and that life had included other women. However, the emotional side of her brain told her she could never love a man who had that much baggage and experience. Fortunately for Bruce, the rational side of her mind had won out, and she had forced herself to understand that his life before her shaped her into the man he was today, and if she wanted to live happily with her, she needed to accept that fully.

And she did…..if only for a little while.

After a while, it all became too much to bear: the thoughts of him with others, the images of other women running their hands over his naked body. She hurt thinking of those who had come before her, and it made her wonder if there would be as many to experience his bod after, or even during, her.

Monogamy was not his strong suit.

The pain became too much to handle, and from that pain, came the first crack in their relationship; the first nick in their happily ever after, which led to the crumbling of forever.

All because of his past.  

 

** Present **

 

Bruce couldn’t remember exactly where they had been, but he knew they had been somewhere downtown, watching as the hazy clouds gathered in the courtyard when they had decided to leave. It was then that it had begun to rain, light at first, starting to come down harder as they drove. When they had arrived at Diana’s building, the rain was falling so hard he could barely see the painted yellow lines, marking the parking lot, and had to guess where the lines were drawn. He had been here for the last twelve days, it was nearly second nature to get his car in a spot correctly.

Since he had met Diana two weeks ago, Bruce had been at been at her place every day, wanting to be with her; needing to be with her. She was a drug, and he was addicted; he wouldn’t have it any other way. He did not want to escape his addiction, and she was more than willing to be his supply.

The downpour continued to come down, hitting the windshield so hard Bruce thought it might crack under the pressure; it was as if it were kneading the hard concrete, trying to see which of the two was tougher. Bruce sat in the driver’s seat, watching the rain, letting out a sigh. He wanted to wait for the storm to leave, safe and comfortable in the dry sanctuary of his car, but his new girlfriend refused to be locked in the car. Bruce smiled, the thought of referring to Diana as his girlfriend sending a smile to his face. He loved the thought of her being his girlfriend.

Diana turned to smile at him, watching as he cautiously glanced at the falling rain. “Come on chicken,” she said, before she began to move her arms as if imitating the wings of a chicken, backing to call him out.

Bruce looked at her, his eyes angry that she would tease him about such a trivial matter. His anger, however, quickly subsided, and was replaced by laughter, when she offered chocolate ice cream amid Eskimo kisses if he agreed to dance in the rain with her. Never one to deny his girl anything, he agreed.

The two exited the car, quickly becoming soaked by the rain as they made their way through the parking lot. As they made their way across the slippery pavement, Diana continued to laugh as Bruce began to loudly complain about the disastrous effect of the rain on his silk tie. Se fumbled with the door, the moisture swelling the lock, forcing her to squeeze the key and turn the knob with a curse. Bruce quickly approached her, trying to find some shelter from the rain, but it was all in vain. They were both soaked to the bone, and even though the cold rain had ruined his suit, Bruce couldn’t help but think he hadn’t felt this good in years. With Diana, everything was good.

A rough crack ripped through the still deadly yellow sky as Diana opened the door with her shoulder, before the oud thunder rumbled through, following the lightning. Bruce could feel Diana shiver against him, cold from the rain, and he wrapped his arms around her. They walked into the building, letting the door shut, closing them off from the storm, before they made their way into the elevator.

The ride up was quiet, both waiting until they were in the warmth and refuge of her apartment to divulge in their planned activities. The elevator dinged and opened its doors, before the two walked out and into the hallway, headed for Diana’s apartment at the end of the hall. As he left the ridiculously large puddles of water in the elevator, Bruce began to pull at his sodden clothes, his foul mood returning as he conveys his discontent with his wet state.

Diana, in an attempt to placate Bruce, offered him a smile, laughing as she told him he looked like a drowned cat. “A big, gorgeous cat,” she said, watching as he almost smiled, the corners of his lips curving upward slightly.

She quickly opened the door to her apartment and stepped inside, her clothes still dripping, before she flicked the lights on. She watched as her lights came on, flickers, before turning back off, and she let out a groan. The storm had knocked out the power; thank goodness she and Bruce were no longer in the elevator.

Bruce followed her into the dark apartment, shutting the door, letting the darkness envelope them. He watched, as best as he could, as Diana walked towards the bathroom to pick up towels, discarding her soaked t-shirt along the way. He continued to watch her as she returned to the room, towels in hand, before she hands him one. His lips curl back up into a smile, as she begins to wipe a towel over her skin, drying herself. She has no idea how absolutely beautiful she is, and Bruce can’t help but think of how much he wanted her in that moment. He ignored his own clothes that were weighing on him as he continued to watch her.

Diana, feeling his gaze on her, turned to look up at him, a look of confusion on her face as she saw him continuing to stare. “God, she’s beautiful,” Bruce thought to himself, so loudly he was nearly afraid he had said it outloud. Without a second thought, Bruce yanked the towel from her hands, pulled her body to his, and kissed her hard and deep. His mouth moved desperately, pushing her, until Diana’s head was tilted back like a submissive wolf, her throat on display.

Bruce moved his lips down to her neck and bit so hard, he heard Diana sigh with pleasure, the ache from his teeth sending a mix of feelings down her body. He quickly drew back, allowing both of them a much needed breath, before he looked Diana in the eye.

Her eyes were so dark in the gloom of the room. He let out a sigh.

Diana did not say anything, she only continued to stare at him. She pulled Bruce closer, wrapping her arms around him, squeezing her hands on the lower part of his back. She took a step back, leaned against the dresser, and tilted her head back slightly. She was inviting him, delivering herself, allowing Bruce to love her.

Bruce felt as if the air around him began to shake violently, the storm-filled stillness danced over his skin, playing with the static electricity as the room snored in sympathy with the rolling thunder outside. His muscles trembled with repressed energy; it was something more than us, more than passion. He felt as if he needed to separate from Diana, if only briefly to calm all the pieces together. Diana made him explode with emotions, and it always felt good, but he was still a little afraid.

He quickly kissed Diana harder, a noise rumbling in the back of his throat as her hands slipped gracefully beneath his shirt, her fingers skimming the moist stomach muscles of the man in front of her. He quickly unbuttoned his shirt frantically, wanting to feel more of her hands on his body. The room is quiet, save for the sounds of the two of them panting….wanting.

His clothes were torn from his skin and he shuddered as his damn skin found the cool air, warmed only by Diana’s gentle hands. He shuddered again as drops of icy water poured from her hair to her bare shoulders, and wondered if she was feeling the same.

He watched as her eyes burned with desire and he knew, he wanted this to last a lifetime.

The lightning flicked once more, and they both trembled a little when the angry thunder answered back so quickly. Bruce quickly grabbed Diana firmly by the arms and turned her roughly, too rough, but she remained quiet. Without a word she laid her hands on the dresser, leaned forward, and spread her legs.

As water invaded his mouth, he got onto his knees, kissing her body down to her stomach. His tongue ran along the muscles he found and he let out a groan. He was savoring her, her taste. God, how could he love someone he barely knew.

He held out his hands and they trembled inexplicably as he hurriedly slipped them over her jeans, his fingers nimbly working to unbutton them. Something disturbing flashed through his mind as Diana arched into his hand. It wasn’t anger, but rather a fierce possessiveness. She was his. She could not escape. He did not want to hurt her, only love her, but he was afraid of her leaving. He quickly jerked her pants off her body and held her bare hips tight. 

Diana squirmed under his grasp, before she let out a gasp, her legs trembling as she whispered his name, begging him for more. Outside it was still storming, cold and wet, but inside, with her, was warm and soft; being with her was like being at home….familiar, happy, and safe. He closed his eyes, leaning his head against hers as he took a deep breath.

When he opened his eyes, he saw a face he did not recognize. She was there, beautiful and flushed, but his reflection in the mirror…..it was not just pleasure and hunger. It was almost like happiness. He was under a spell, that had to be the only reason. This woman was a witch; she had bewitched him.

He moved his eyes from his reflection back to her. A few strands of his hair were glued to his forehead, his mouth half open, his eyes narrowed, his cheeks flushed…..it was a wonder obscenity.

In that velvety and sharp movement, Diana’s eyes startled him. It seemed more than deja vu. He had had her many times, but he felt in his heart that she belonged to him long before he had met her two weeks ago.

 “You’re mind, are you not? I think you always were,” he said, almost inadvertently, like a whisper.

 “Yes,” she responded in the same way, almost shyly. “I am….just as your heart is mine.”

In that moment, they no longer wanted to understand what was going on between them. It filled them with fear; they just wanted to live that piece of paradise that filled them in a way that nothing else filled. They had discovered paradise in each other. It was not what they had imagined, expecting to only find happiness in miracles, when in reality they could be found in the simplest things.

 They would warm up on rainy days and love each other strongly on sunny days.

That night they made love on the kitchen table. Later that night they laid in bed, laughing at his terribly ugly socks. They had watched old Hitchcock movies, eating homemade popcorn, loving every moment together.

Bruce and Diana were happy to have found each other, but there were still feelings of fear. Bruce was afraid of getting lost again. He thought he'd never find paradise.

But he was wrong.

 

* * *

  _“In the beginning, we always dreamed to be where we are now_

_The human condition, we chase lines that we redefine_

_So close but still so far._

_I'm falling apart, want to be what the world forgot_

_And I know, it feels like heaven when you are lost”_

[  **(EDEN - Death of a Dream)**](https://youtu.be/4yS6tBy7GA8)

 Salvar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that the narrative seems a little bit confusing, but it is purposeful... I would like the reader to experience the same perspective of the protagonists in the first chapters. Bruce and Diana love each other without knowing why, without understanding where this sense of belonging comes from, so familiar and natural.
> 
> I intend to explain why they broke the relationship and how their memories of each other have been erased in the next few chapters.But first, I wanted the reader to feel just like them: a little confused, but still savoring the wonderful feeling of loving.


	3. Back to black

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Greetings everyone,
> 
> Forgive me the long delay in updating. But life demands a high cost to my mind and my heart sometimes. I apologize once more. I would like to be more proficient to produce the chapters. However, I do not have free time as I would like.
> 
> >> What to expect from this chapter? Anguish!  
> I only hope to have found the right measure between vulnerability and strength, anguish and affection. To show that pain is part of the process of emotional maturity. What true love does not hurt pride? It hurts because it was lost.
> 
> >> As usual, my special thanks to my beta and inspiration @ SaultNPeppah
> 
> >> Cover image by @ Dee_stroyer, Marvelous artist!
> 
> >> Disclaimer: The characters and images do not belong to me.
> 
> Good reading!  
> ♥

****  


 

* * *

 

**Chapter 3 - Back to black**

  
_"Well, some people say our lives are defined by the sum of our choices._  
_But it is not our choices that distinguish who we’re, it's our commitment to them”_  
**(Emily Thorne - Revenge)**

 

* * *

 

 

** Past **

His eyes fixed on the pages of the book, which had laid open on the desk of his private library in the Wayne mansion. He continued to stare at the book, searching for something capable of capturing his attention. He seeked a focal point to trigger a sense of meditation. He looked away after a few seconds, closing his eyes as he drowned in the tranquility these silent moments brought. His senses sharpened as his mind rose.

He heard the repetitive tinkle of dripping. The odors that filled his sense of smell, were the same of the combination of blood, bourbon, and tears. He contemplated abstract art, formed by the splashes of blood in a vibrant crimson tone on the two white pages of book, before he turned his eyes to the source of the river of blood.

Alfred was literally sewing his flesh. He was sitting in front of him, sewing the skin of the palm of his right hand with the whim of a master craftsman dedicated to his craft. The butler was closing the deep cut from the base of the thumb to the center of the palm, mending the callused skin.

Bruce looked at the man sitting in front of him and smiled. Diana was right – she was always right ... or almost always. He kept pushing away the people he loved, because he did not love them for the right reasons. His only reference to unquestioning love proved to be his own love for himself. In turn, this dedicated him to the mission of caring for himself - he would give up his own happiness. Or at least this is what he thought the mission would be.

_"That arrogant way you love is not love, Bruce. You are not an epitome of true love by sacrificing your own happiness for what you suppose to be the best for someone else. It is presumptuous stupidity. For an intelligent man would bear no weight, since he was a child”_

_"For most of your life, you took the blame for depriving Alfred of being fully happy. You kept him from having his own family - of marrying, having children and grandchildren. Your existence forces you to dedicate yourself to only you for the promise you made to your parents. If you would stop looking at your reflection in the mirror and look at Alfred instead - if you would focus on someone other than yourself - you would realize how happy Alfred is. He has his own family. You would see, that despite not having married, he has a son, you know? Do you think you are nothing to him? Do you think he does not care for you as a father would a son?”_  
_"And now, you throw me away, thinking that is the best for me. You can not make one-sided decisions when what's at stake is a relationship for two. I wanted to fight, but I'm tired of this game where I have to make all the moves.”_

She was right. He was tired. He could not tell if he could still feel something, as his heart was just as tired as he was. He did not have the energy to search for the feelings he had once had. That was how he had found himself here. When Diana had left, Bruce crushed the glass in his hand, letting the glass slice his hand before the blood began to flow. He had to feel something. He had to hurt more than the broken glass of his heart that fell when it all broke.

_"Tell me, Bruce: Do you feel better telling me you do not love me, knowing I know it's a lie? Who spent the night with your ex? You did. Is this to hurt me? Was it so I did not insist on staying? All I wanted was to be with you, be on your side, without charges, with an open heart. But then you act as if my existence irritates you….and I'm tired of it all. I’m tired of your lies, of your detachment. I am giving up..."_

He had been thinking about love – damn that sacred word.

He loved her.  
He lost her.  
He was lost without her.

He looked at the bandages around his hand. He wanted to cry for all that was lost, the happiness that had given him hope to reach his heart one day and had never come. He wanted to cry for having lost himself. He wanted to cry for how much he loved and was not loved; Diana had loved him but he had been so adamant on not letting her love him fully.

His heart bled with a pain he was unable to communicate to anyone else. He had refused the touch of love and had refused the attempts to approach the well-wisher. He wanted to scream that the pain was only his. He wanted to tell Diana, if she came close, she would get hurt. The pain was his, and his alone, and he would keep her far away from it.

_"The only magic that exists is being alive and not understanding any of it. The only magic that exists is our incomprehension”. He told himself, as he hung his head low._

_"I loved you very much, Diana. I never said it, but I think….I think you knew. Too bad big minds cannot love. Too bad we're ashamed to say, we should not be ashamed of what is beautiful, Diana. I think that one day we will meet again, and then everything will be more clear- that there will be no more fear or false things. I loved you so much. I never said I did, but I think you know I did.”_

 

_(…)_

 

Diana laid in bed, thinking of the emptiness of, as she has done every day. It’s days like this, where her head falls heavy at noon, her mouth bitter from the taste of love lost, a strong cup of coffee scaring away the arcana of dawn, that she can’t help but think back to him.

She turned and placed her face into the pillow, letting it silence her cries. The pain she feels in her chest suffocates her, making her feel like she’s drowning, but she refuses to give into the pressure.

On days like this, she would have left the house, refusing to linger in the past; refusing to linger on him. But not today.

Not today. Not today.

She let out a sigh, struggling to keep the tears at bay, as she thought about him. All she had ever wanted to was to see him smile at her, waiting at the end of the dark days, trying to make his way back to her.

The days she had spent with him, making love to him early in the morning, the feeling of his stubble against her neck making her breathe sharply, had been some of the best of her life.

All she had wanted was to love him, as her fingers had brushed softly across his face, her chest against his as his head had laid in the crook of his neck. She had loved him... and she knew he had loved her.

 

**Clark and Lois's Wedding**

 

They stood side by side, looking so much like the bride and groom, that one could have almost mistaken them for an older version of the couple about to be wed.

"This could have been us”, Bruce said quietly. His tone was relaxed and maybe a bit gloomy, but she only wished he could understood the subtle clues she heard.

Diana snorted, quite unlike herself as of late, but all too familiar sounding to the man standing next to her. "No, it would not. Do you think we could have gotten this? You would never let it happen. But if it did…. it would have been memorable”, she replied, a ghostly smile on her face.

"Yes, Princess,” Bruce said with a shug. "But no one was ready for us. Even me”.

Diana said nothing. She knows what he has said is indisputable. They had shared an intimacy that she can still feel today, but they leave it be for the sake of everyone around them. It was not fair, but Diana had learned to suffer discreetly and, worst of all, it was Bruce who taught her to suffer like this. Weary. Alone.

"I think they're going to get what we did not." Diana waved to the dancing couple with a sigh, a forced smile on her face as she watched the newlywed couple stare into each others’ eyes. "They're going to get what we wanted. It's almost worth it, don’t you think?” She turned to face Bruce, her smile fading. “I love them so much," she said.

"Possibly," Bruce said thoughtfully with a nod. "I thought you just loved him," he said, almost laughing at the thought.

"You're an idiot, Bruce." He laughed.

He knew he was an idiot.

  
He knew he had wronged her...but they were pretending to be okay.

They would not let their unhappiness ruin Clark and Lois’ wedding.

 

Maybe one day one of them would come back.

Maybe one day they could have their happy ending.

 

Perhaps they would return to a time when they could exchange letters and late night calls.

Sunday morning brunches and small packages sent by FedEx.

Maybe someday they might be cured of the pain.

 

Then again, they could walk away from each other and forget everything they ever had.

Maybe they never saw each other again. Maybe they gave up on the love they once had.

 

Maybe everything, maybe nothing.

 

* * *

 

 

 _Say something, I'm giving up on you_  
_I'll be the one, if you want me to_  
_Anywhere, I would've followed you_  
_Say something, I'm giving up on you_  
**Say Something (feat. Christina Aguilera)**  
**A Great Big World**

* * *

 

 _Our love is like a grain._  
_A seed of illusion_  
_It has to die to germinate_  
**(Drão - Gilberto Gil)**

Salvar


	4. To forget you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello buddies,
> 
> In the following chapters, Bruce and Diana undergo the process of erasing each other's memories. The premise is the same as what is used in the movie "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (Science Fiction): a kind of lobotomy in the brain only of certain parts of memory, not in general.
> 
> I have divided this part into two chapters: the first (Forget) is full of anguish; full of memories that reaffirm the reason for deleting the memories. The second (Remember) is just the opposite - memories that show them that love should not be forgotten.
> 
> >> My special thanks to my beta @ SaultNPeppah for your patience and friendship.  
> >> The characters and music composition do not belong to me.  
> Cover image by @ Dee_Stroyer.
> 
> Good reading!  
> ♥

 

 

* * *

**Chapter 4 – Don't you forget about me**

"Tis better to have loved and lost / Than never to have loved at all"

**(poem In Memoriam A. H. H. – Lorde Alfred Tennyson)**

* * *

 

**  
**

** PAST **

They had said, "I accept." The temptation of the devil was too good to pass up. It had been enough for them to say yes, and the agreement was sealed which, if it had not cost them their souls, had cost their hearts. Who could blame them? When the pain ripped, the offer to end it without harm - that is what they thought - became a necessity, not a cowardly escape.

  
Diana discovered that the pain of an unfulfilled love was alarming and prevented her from moving on. The pain of an unrealized love paralyzed and forced you to live in the past.

Bruce realized, too late, that there were different pains for lost loves - the pain of hopeless loss wass overwhelming, but still bearable compared to the pain of losing true love by choice. This is impossible to bear.

  
The demon had told them, "I can put an end to your pain, son / daughter," holding out their hand and they took it for support. The devil had promised them not the simple relief, but the elimination of the emotional cancer that had spread within their heart, sickening the healthy cells of the sensibility little by little. The demon had assured them that there would be no harm and that this solution would be best for both of them.

Like all temptation, it was perfect.  
They ate the apple ...  
And they were cast out of Paradise.

 

** RA'S **

  
  
"Pain is nothing. Will is everything. And the will is to act," was the last sentence spoken by Professor Henri Ducard, ending his presentation at Gotham University, regarding his controversial discovery of brain intervention. It was something he had called neural optimization, and it had become a revolution to modern Science.

enri Ducard, (his western name as he used to call it), had been given the Arabic name of Rā's al Ghūl, by his mother. An unquestionable genius of Modern Science, he was called the 'Head of the Demon' by its intellectual peers and scientists. Rich and elegant, Ducard had been compared to the Devil not because he would be commonly mistaken for an excellent seducer or manipulator- they called him Demon's Head because he was unique, concentrating seduction by Lucifer's Machiavellian genius, not lust. He was the Demon's mind.

Philosophy, Sociology, History, and Psychology. He used the Human Sciences to become a master manipulator. He had joined Plato, Kant, Machiavelli, Marx, Webber, Freud, Baudrillar and Chomsky. With a PhD in Neurobiology and Psychiatry, he had become the most extraordinary manipulator of the human mind, emotionally and clinically. He was a genius of Postmodernity.

As if that were not enough, Ducard had mastered countless other areas of knowledge, all self-taught. Ra's had learned alchemy and was one of the greatest fencing masters in the world, if not the greatest. It was a feat that had given him another nickname: The Immortal. People used to say that a man could only accumulate so much knowledge if he were 600 years old.

After years of searching for a way to 'accelerate Darwinian evolution and make homo sapiens more sapiens than man by eliminating the emotions that weaken him, something he had said were not rational, he had discovered the evolutionary Holy Grail: Exterminate the source of emotional imbalance (pain, fears, attachments, passions, loves).

Ra's AL Ghul discovered how to map the brain using an apparatus (a type of tomograph), overturn the mental resistance, and access the unconscious easily by injecting a greenish serum into the bloodstream. The serum, which he had dubbed the Lazarus Well, was a cocktail of hallucinogenic substances, anxiolytic and opiates, would erase only part of the memory identified as damaging, as the emotional damages that interfere with personal rational evolution were what he wanted to rid individuals of.

It was not a simple process. Ducard had thought of everything, and all the candidates went through rigorous assessments that required good physical, cognitive, and genetic health as a prerequisite for initial classification.

After a series of interviews to attest that the individual was legally and intellectually apt to be part of the emotional experience of each candidate, another set of questions was asked about the source of the problem, to map only the memories attached to it.

Ra's had never personally followed the proceedings, despite closely monitoring them. Not by pricelessness, but by pride. It was his way of making clear his 'superiority' for the members of his team - to the master, the genius, most evolved of the human species, it is the dedication to cultivate the thought and to the less evolved ones, of average intelligence, it is up to the manual work of ideas.

Yet he had entrusted this kind of task to very few people. His team consisted of three collaborating scientists, in formal terms (in practice, they were just helpers): These three were his daughters, Nyssa and Talia, and Slade Wilson. In addition to the three were two bodyguards, whom he called by the names of Lady Shiva and Ubu, as he did not know their civilian identities.

 

** FORGETTING **

**  
**

Diana felt the rough tips of Slade's fingers touch her temples as he set the suction cups of the electrodes on each of them, gently securing the devices to each side of her head. Nyssa, who stood besides Diana, checked her blood pressure and temperature before she inserted the catheter into one of the more protruding veins of her right hand.

Bruce heard Talia's soft voice assure him that he would be all right. She told him he would feel incredibly willing and enthusiastic in the morning, without the burden of guilt and anguish, as she placed the electrodes on him, watching as Ubu laid Bruce's head on a device that resembled a portable tomograph.

Separated by what felt like miles in their separate rooms, but was only a few feet down a hallway, both Diana and Bruce did not know they were in sync, reliving their memories of one another for the last time

 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  
_Memories..._

 

 _"Are you upset?" she asked._ _  
_"What?"__

 _"You look upset with me."_ _  
_"Do I look upset?" His pulse was racing.__

_"Could you please talk to me, Bruce?"_

_She took a deep breath and Bruce's heart stopped. Apparently, it would be one of those relationship conversations._

_"I feel like you're not really here with me lately, when we're ... together."_

_Diana laid there stiffly, giving the water-damaged ceiling all her focus. "It's like I could be anyone, or like I'm with a stranger."_

_Burning coal set in the pit of his stomach._ _  
_"Okay ... Look, if you're not satisfied ... Just say it!"__

_She sighed._

_"Bruce, that's not what I'm saying."_

  
_He sat up and pushed himself to lean against the head of the bed._  
_"No, really, Diana, why don't you give me some tips? You could even be my monitor at one of those efficiency workshops at work, what about training?"_  
_"Right," she said as nodded._

_  
_She finally made eye contact and her confidence prompted her to finally speak.__

_"Is this about Selina?"_

_He looked at her in disbelief._

_"You push me, you push me, you piss me off ... You have an idea in your head, and no matter what the reality, you just ... God, Diana!"_

_"You do not talk to me. What do you want me to think? Your ex-fiancee appears and I wonder if that's the problem," she said, with an annoying sense of calm._

_He let out a breath of air, got up, and picked up his pants. "If you say so."_

_He knew it was impossible to stop Diana. Once she had decided what was the problem, there was no changing her mind. They had this conversation more times than he already cared to admit, and Bruce could not handle it all again._

_"We should talk, and then everything will be fine between us, right?"_ _  
_"You think of everything," he said between his gritted teeth, as he kept his back to her. Closing his trousers, he reached for his shirt and tried to control the anger that was starting to burn in his chest.__

_It did not help much to remember that she meant well when she was treating him as one of her personal projects of selfless solidarity. Sometimes Bruce felt more like one of the boys in the orphanage she cared for than a man; much less her man. More and more lately, he was feeling as if he never left the stifling weight of his good deeds._

_When he turned, she was sitting with her knees to her chest, the comforter pulled up, her arms wrapped around her legs. "Listen, Bruce. I feel like you're struggling to pretend it's okay. But I understand that the pains of the past are hard to beat."_

_"You understand what, Diana?" Bruce located his shirt and pulled it off the floor._

_"You do not have to overcome anything in your perfect life. It's like you're the beautiful Greek goddess taking care of her troublesome dog. You are always selfless, taking on a cause."_  
_Confusion twisted her face. "Is that what you think? You're not a cause to me, Bruce. You are the man I love. I just work at our relationship because it feels like I'm losing you."_  
_She paused, her voice losing some of her strength, as she asked, "Do you want this? Do you want us to end? "_

_"Oh, you're asking me? Asking me to make a decision? And who am I, the person with whom you are associated? I'm just a kid supported by you, " he said, holding his arms wide. "What can I say? I am an emotionally helpless poor soul."_

_His brow furrowed. "What do you mean? I never made decisions for both of us."_  
_He dropped his arms tightly to the sides and let out a bitter laugh._  
_"Why do you just throw all the junk back at me. It's not my fault if you feel the weight of the world on your shoulders, Bruce"_

_"I'm not throwing crap at you, Diana. I'm the trash. If you want to treat our relationship like a cause, then I must be able to control my part of our story. I do not just want to be part of it passively."_

_Diana looked stunned. "This is ridiculous," she breathed quietly._  
_"If you say so."_  
_Leaning back against the head of the bed, she shook her head. "It has nothing to do with Selina, does it? You just do not want to take it on. You do not want us to take the next step."_  
_Bruce stopped looking under the duvet for his shoes and straightened up to look at her. "Now you're being ridiculous."_

 _"I am? You fight against all the ideas I have for us to move forward, to solve our problems, to be happy. "_  
_"I'm not the person who did not even tell his own parents about us, Diana. I do not have to be cool with your ex-boyfriend Clark just so nobody suspects anything."_

_"What am I supposed to think, Bruce?" His voice was incredibly small, and that made him inexplicably irritated. "If only you were sincere with me. If you do not want to do this ... "_

_"I definitely do not want to do this."_  
_"I mean us." She looked at her hands and played with the blanket. "I feel like you're slipping away, and I do not know how to get to you lately."_

_"Do not be dramatic. I'm right here, Diana, I'm always here." He saw the other shoe on the other side of the room and headed toward it._

_"Do you need me here anymore? Maybe you can work out an agenda."_ _  
_"You're not here," she said firmly, and then added more gently, "You're not happy, and I'm not happy."__

 _Bruce's stomach contorted, and a sickening feeling settled deep within it. He could not make anyone happy. It was no use being here anymore. He straightened, one shoe in each hand, and barely continued to breathe, waiting for her to continue._ _  
_"Maybe ..." She took a deep breath. "Maybe if you realized how much I love you, you would decide to live your life by my side"__

_"For God's sake, Diana," he said wearily. "What do you want from me? I'm tired."_

_"I want you here! I want you to stay ... But you're unhappy, and when you're with me, it makes me feel like I'm nothing ... I mean, it's like you do not even want me. Like you were never attracted to me. "_  
_"Not now, I'm not at all," he said coldly._

_Had someone replaced Diana with this mess of a girl who was cutting the little pride he had left? And she wanted him to make her feel better? For a fraction of a second, he thought the fire had kindled in her eyes in response, but she was not about to leave the room when she was completely naked under the covers._

_Diana sat up, the duvet holding her chin in her fists. She was smaller than she really was, scared and he despised it._  
_"Bruce ... If you're not willing to do the things you have to do to be together, really together ... then I can not see what I mean to you." The room began to fill with her unstable breathing. "I can not believe I mean nothing to you."_

_He decided right then, it was time to go. There was no time to put his shoes on; he would just take them in his hands as he walked through the door._

_"Well, Diana, as usual, you seem to have everything planned. You do not need me for this, "he said, before he left._

_Diana remembered the ducks, when Bruce had started spending nights in his apartment, bringing his toothbrush along with him. On the bathroom counter, his toothbrush was beside her in a variety of settings that certainly meant something._

_On notable occasions, they seem almost curled together from top to bottom, each brush nested against the other's handle. She kept the amusement to herself, but was amused enough to see how they landed, especially when she disengaged herself in the middle of the night for a trip to the bathroom._

_Now, in the dim light of the mirror, she stared at a blue brush, worn bristles to where they curved outwardly and flattened from the center, with her back to a green back, showing very little wear. About four inches of cracked tiles separated them._  
_She stared into the darkness of the room beyond where Bruce was sleeping and thought of symbolism, and crawling spaces between the immutability of his positions._

_(…)_

_"I do not agree with your reasoning."_ _  
_"I just explained my reasoning."__

  
_"It does not follow that I can not disagree with that."_  
_"Bruce, I was just giving the pros and cons of each one. Which do you prefer?_

  
_"I really do not mind, as long as it's not the pub."_  
_"Do not you have a preference between Thai and Japanese?"_

  
_"No. You choose."_  
_"... Ok ... I just ..."_

  
_"What?"_  
_"Nothing. I'll ... How about the curry then?_

  
_"Great."_  
_"Of course, maybe we should ..."_

  
_"Diana, I do not really care."_  
  
(...)

_It was a rare sight. Diana was half-dressed, perched next to her silk-brocade satin bed, pulling on her silk socks. She had a presentation at work and was at her best, which included (always for her enjoyment) leagues._

_She was rarely at the mansion and Bruce was tired of traveling back and forth every morning. He was comfortable here, being the only one resting under the covers, watching her walk around looking for her clothes._

_"What are your plans for Christmas Eve then?" she asked, buttoning the blouse._  
_"I have to sort things out, but I can get out of there by ten if you want to meet and stay the night."_

 _She jumped on one leg, pulling on her shoe. "I go to my mother's house and my father comes from Greece to see me, with Persephone, so I'll stay with them at night. How about in the afternoon on Christmas Day?"_  
_"I will be here all day with Alfred and Dick. There will also be some friends: Barbara and Jim, then ..." They shared a look of understanding. "But that night ..."_

 _"Love, I promised the Kents that I would go there ... Martha is still shaken by the death of her husband," she said hastily, giving him a warning look. "I'm there for Christmas dinner every year."_ _  
_He sat up, his forearms resting on his bent knees.__

 _"So after. I'll come later and bring ..._  
_"I'll stay the night." She turned and put in her earrings, as she walked toward him. "It's tradition."_  
_"Really," he said firmly, "Can you not break the tradition of spending the night with your ex-boyfriend?"_  
_"It's difficult, and I would not call Kal an "ex". He's spending the night with Lois. I'm only there as a family friend."_

 _"Well, based on the behavior I observed of him last week, I have to say he would not call himself an 'ex' either," he said bitterly. Lifting the covers, he began to look for something near his feet._  
_Diana rolled her eyes. "December 26th, then. We could watch a football game. What about that? Or Tennis ... You love tennis."_

 _His voice was muffled as he spoke with his head under the duvet. "I have Wayne's dental charitable functions."_  
_She made a growling noise and went to the bag at the foot of the bed, bending down with a snort._  
_"I understand," she said._

  
_"Oh here." He crawled under the bed and perched next to her on his knees, holding a heavy package over the length of his hand._

 _"Bruce ..."_  
_"Merry Christmas, Diana."_

 

_(...)_

 

 _"I did not say I would."_ _  
_"Bruce, you explicitly implied that you would."__

 _"Diana ... that does not even make sense."_  
_"Yes it does! You did it. You make it sound like you're okay with something, not wanting to have a fight about it, but when it's time to go, you come with justification because you can not do that._ _"_

_"I happen to think that an alternative engagement is a perfectly reasonable reason not to go wherever you want to go."_

_"Ronnie's summer party? Bruce, Veronica had a six-month ago engagement. You could come up with something better than that. I think I deserve better than what you're doing. "_

_"She's famous for the party and it's not the act, Diana. It will be fun "_  
_"I'm sure."_  
_"Hmm, I can see whatever it is that you want to watch at another time, for sure."_

_"No, you can not. It's a classic movie drive-in movie festival, you know it only happens once a year, and I love to see old movies like that once in the car. I wanted to see 'Gone with the Wind.' I thought you liked it."_

_"Well ... I really like the name. What is it then ... Are you hot, baby? "_

_"Stop, I'm mad at you and ... hurt ... And - no, I'm not going to put it aside because it's the third time this happened this month - See, that's exactly what I'm talking about, you never want do the things that I like. Everything revolves around you "_

_"Come here ... I want to kiss you, princess. My Scarlett O'Hara. "_

_Diana's lips curled into a smile._

 

* * *

 

 

I see the blood in your eyes

I see the love and disguise

I see the pain hitting in your pride

I see you not satisfied

And I don't see nobody else

I see myself, I'm looking at the…

 

Mirror on the wall

Here we are again

Through my rise and fall

You've been my only friend

You told me that they can't understand the man I am

So why are we, here

Talking to each other again

**[Mirror (Lil Wayne feat. Bruno Mars)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZLUa8JUR18) **

 


	5. Remember

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Greetings readers,
> 
> The chapter is a cutout of the most significant moments of Bruce and Diana's relationship. Memories that are not necessarily joyful, but which are, above all, proof of an unspeakable, incalculable, undoubted and unforgettable love.
> 
> >> English is not my first language, my dear ones. So, my eternal gratitude to my beta @ SaultNPeppah. Without her, probably, this reading would not be tolerable. Thank you all for patiently and generously devoting a little of your time to reading this work.
> 
> >> Disclaimer:  
> The characters and music composition do not belong to me.  
> Cover image by Dee_Stroyer.
> 
> >> Find me on twitter:  
> #Wonderbat #DCComics - https://twitter.com/_miss_amelie/  
> #Personal - https://twitter.com/carolaqueiroz/
> 
> >> Enjoy the reading!  
> ♥

 

****

 

 

* * *

 

**Chapter 5 - Remember**

_"She asked him one of those days if it was true, as the songs said, that love could do anything._

_It's true, "he replied," but you'd better not believe it.”_

**(Of love and other demons - Gabriel García Márquez)**

 

* * *

 

 

 

** PAST **

 

He screamed.

 

The strident sound of his voice, loudest, echoing through his mind. Powerful thrusts of his baritone, like thunder announcing a violent storm, like thunder which, to the believers in Norse mythology, signified the wrath of Thor, son of Odin.

 

_"I do not want to forget her. Don't make me forget her.”_

But no one could hear the muffled cries in her mind.

 

She cried.

 

Tears flowed like a river through the cheekbones. Tributaries pouring into a sea of melancholy and regret.

 

_“I do not want to forget him. Do not force me to forget him”_

She begged, but no one could hear the appeals locked in her mind.

 

 .........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

**_ Memories _ **

_She opened her eyes slowly, stretching her muscles lazily, before looking around and feeling inexplicably happy as she contemplated Bruce's still-dormant features._

 " _Please ... stay," he'd asked her the night before, when she was about to leave. His low, sharp tone of voice told him to leave him alone, but his eyes begged for comfort and affection._

_He carried her to bed, but not to discharge his frustrations by having sex. He was physically and emotionally exhausted and had not been able to get aroused the way he would usually. His lack of excitement did not matter much to Diana, though. He just wanted to forget that hellish day and did not mind not having sex. He just wanted her to stay._  

_After being crammed into an hour-long hug, Bruce could not stop himself from kissing her, murmuring something about how tolerable the pain was with her at his side. She had no idea when she had fallen asleep, but obviously she slept for a long time._  

_She really should go home now. There was no point in bothering Bruce. She nudged him, and her eyes immediately opened, clear and free of sleep._  

 

_"You're awake," she said in a low voice, as if someone was around and could be awakened had they not spoke quietly._

  _"Yes."_

  _She bit her lip, not knowing what that meant._

_"Why did you pretend not to be?"_

 

_He shrugged lightly and uncompromisingly._

_"I did not know if you'd rather run away from me. I wanted to spend more time with you."_

 

_She swallowed. Should she just have left?_

_"I do not like to sneak."_

 " _Great," he said and smiled._

 

_She could not help smiling. For a second, she thought he wanted her to leave without speaking to him first. But it was just the opposite. He still wanted her to stay._

_"How long have you been awake?"_

 

_He shrugged. "Most of the day, I suppose."_

 " _And you did not wake me up?"_

_She looked around, not surprised to find her robes scattered all over the room._

 

_"Obviously not. You seemed to need to sleep. I did not even want to bother you ... you know ..."_

_"Oh." She blushed, knowing what he meant. "Thank you, Bruce."_

_"You really have to thank me. If you're interested to know, I'm completely fucked." He rolled onto his back and put his hands under his head, narrowing his eyes at the ceiling in a scowl._

 

_She rose on her elbows to look at him, curiosity overcoming any kind of embarrassment she might have felt. "Really?”_  

_He looked at her from the corner of his eye._

_"I've been… hard…  all morning ... It's painful to urinate like that, you know?"_

 

_She laughed._

_"Bruce, you're incorrigible."_

_"I was told that I can not stop wanting you enough to think. The strange part was when I was perfectly content not to do anything about it, but only ... holding you in my arms and watching you sleep. I can think of excuses for almost everything else, Prince, but not this. I have to get back what I said yesterday. Maybe a selfish kind of love, but it's there I love you I need you It hurts less when you're with me But I'm afraid to bring you into my life I'm afraid of ruining everything "_  

 

_"Bruce, stop being so pessimistic. I love you. Let me love you.”_  

_He buried his hands in her hair and pulled, making an aggravated sound. "You've found out I get a bit offensive when I'm on the defensive, don’t you? Look, you do not have to give me so much Diana, you try so hard to make me feel loved. I feel bad because I do not think I can do the same.”_  

_Diana shook her head at the distorted logic and murmured, "I can stay forever, Bruce ... You just want me to stay"_  

 

_"What?"_  

_"I'll stay forever."_  

_"Promise me?”_  

_“I do.”_  

_"I'll never ask you to go, princess ... never."_

 

_He pursed his lips as if she were amusing him._

_"Besides, it's not pessimism, I'm just trying to do what's good for you and me, Princess. You should try to convert me," he said with a smile._  

_Diana let out another laugh and kissed him with all possible tenderness, laughing between kisses._

 

_"Look, you must tell me to behave so that I do not lose you, and then convert. You have to threaten me"_  

_"Is it possible to 'convert' someone motivated by selfishness?" she teased._  

_"I'll change if it means you're mine."_

 

_(…)_

 

_"Will you go to the Grant's bounty auction with me, princess? Everybody wants to meet my girlfriend. They doubt that you exist. According to them, I could not date an intelligent woman. They can not stand me "_  

_"Of course I will," she shouted from the kitchen of his apartment to him; he was sprawled on the sofa in the living room._  

_"Will there be food?" she asked hesitantly. Her stomach reminded her of how much time had passed since the last time she had eaten. She was so busy that she had forgotten to eat both lunch and dinner._  

 

_He smiled slowly, and she had to look away, because for the first time his smile seemed genuinely happy and did things to her; strange and exciting things._  

_Diana jumped onto him on the couch._

 

_"Ouch," he said softly. "You always think of food. Aren’t you a hunger princess?” He chuckled. “I’ll feed you, as long as I can think of other, much more interesting things, of how to make you scream my name all night long. But I can feed you homemade food first, if you kiss me now."_  

_"Your princess obeys the request of her knight," she said, before she kissed him hard, cradled in his lap._

  _"Who needs sophisticated parties and romance, when you can have delicious food and hot sex?" she said with a smirk._  

 

_He smoothed a rebellious lock of hair behind her ear and smiled._ _"_

_That's my girl."_

 

_(…)_

 

_The most important and significant memories of his relationship with Diana, little by little, flowed through a filter that discarded them from memory._  

_But her smile. The smile that he loved, which illuminated the darkness that engulfed him ... He had promised himself: the image of her smile will resist all the trappings of oblivion._  

_The memory of making love to her. The soft satin of his skin, the firmness of his muscles, the sound of his voice in the darkness - moans of pleasure and affection. The whistles that came from somewhere between pleasure and pain as she had sunk her teeth into his shoulder, her body tightening around him in every way._  

_She knew the taste of his sweat and the sound of his laugh. He knew she had a birthmark on the inner side of her right thigh, and that if he put his mouth there, she'd gasp his name in the sweetest way possible._  

_She knew he has a scar on the back of the left shoulder of a fall when he was 6 years old. She knew that until very recently, it was the only unnatural defect in her perfect body of Adonis._

_He knew she has tickles along her ribs and the backs of her knees, and she knew he liked her to please him anyway, because tickling often leads to something else that he loves._ ****

_He knew the moment before the orgasm reached her, his eyes fluttering, then they would look at hers and try to hold his gaze. He knew that his back arched and his eyes closed, always, despite all his efforts to control them_

_(…)_

 

_Silence._  

_He looked at her as if he expected an answer to his question._

_"Do you love me?" he asked. His eyes suggested he wanted to know the answer. The serious expression on his face saying he wanted to hear that he was loved._  

_She did not say anything. Instead, Diana raised her trembling hand and touched his face with a softness and delicacy that could mean nothing but affection. Her fingers stroke his cheek until the seriousness of Bruce's face disappeared and the corner of his mouth curved into a boyish smile._  

_She loved him and he saw the answer in her eyes. How could she not? How could she not love him when the marks of her fingers were still on his skin?_  

_She just had to close her eyes and turn her mind a few hours to feel the hands that moved along her body, holding her on the bed, guiding her. When she just had to, she looked at him, remembering his taste; remembering the feeling of him filling her physically and emotionally, moving inside her._  

_Her soft words whispered against his mouth between kisses and touches that burned in her heart. Bruce loved her. Diana loved him._

 

_Diana turned to Bruce and he reached for her and pulled her against his side._

_"Are you cold?" Bruce asked her._

_"A little," she said._  

_She sunk deeper against his side as he wrapped his cloak around her shoulders. She smelled the scent of the earth, but then there was a sweet and spicy scent that is all of it, and made her think of apples just after the rain._

_She knew all about his skin and his flesh, and she was probably the only person who knew much about what was underneath._

 

_"You are ready?" Bruce asked._  

_She looked at him, strangely for a moment, then understood what he was asking and said, "Yes."_  

_"Hold on to me," he said when they had gotten onto the motorcycle_  

_"Yes," she said again, squeezing him tightly; she wanted to hold him for life._

 

_(…)_

 

_The room smelled of sex and expensive perfume; it was the scent he ha given Diana as a gift. He loved that smell._  

_In bed, Diana shook and turned as she slept. She was dreaming. He could see her eyes run back and forth under her eyelids, her long dark lashes fluttering against her cheeks like street dance dancers._  

_She was so peaceful like that, with her dark curly hair clustered in the white sheets, her body relaxed, unlike how she was when she is awake, her lips slightly apart to let in the light._

_There are tear marks on her face and, very lightly, he brushed them with his fingertips._  

_Today was the funeral of her Aunt Antiope. It was an absolutely painful funeral. Dozens of mourners from her Greek family and so many flowers that their scent had made it almost impossible to breathe._  

_Bruce had held Diana while she cried. He had tried to protect her from the sneaky and brazen looks of some of the people in her family who did not approve of her dating a playboy and notorious American womanizer._  

_Diana sighed and moved her face closer to his fingers. He smiled at her and brushed a lock of hair behind her ear._  

_Bruce shook his head with a bland laugh. He was actually sitting on the edge of his bed, naked, mourning the pain of the woman he loved. That sounded pathetic, but it was not, and he did not really care._

 

_"Bruce?" Diana whispered._  

_He looked at her and saw that she was awake. The light from the lamp threw small sparks of gold into her dark eyes._  

_He leaned into her cheek, on hand gently stroking it, before he leaned in to kiss her, lightly at first, then deeper, using his tongue and teeth until he felt her tremble against him._

 

_"Are you alright?" she asked. He was being gentle and sweet, and although she loved it, this was not usually how he was. Not unless he had been drinking or something was wrong._

_"I'm fine," he said, sitting down. He took another cigarette from his backpack on the bedside table and lit it up. “I’m feeling corny, I guess.”_

_She stood up and rested her head against his thigh. "It's about today? You do not like funerals."_  

_"Yes," he said in his place. "I was thinking about today."_

 

_Sometimes he would wonder how they had gotten here. Somewhere, somehow, it had become something more. This had happened while he had not been paying attention. She had entered his heart and made a home for herself, even before he had realized it, and now it was too late._

_She ran her hand through her hair and their eyes met. It was just an instant, but that’s all it took; they knew each other very well._

_He moved behind her so that she was no facing the wall, holding the head of the bed. The sheet was between them, and with a grunt and a curse, he quickly pulled it out of the way. She tilted her head forward and whimpered as he grazed his teeth over the small vertebrae at the base of her skull. He slid his hand down the inside of her thigh, before he placed a finger inside her. When she had choked, and her body contracted, he added another and started to move them in a slow and steady way, just as he knew she liked it._

_“Bruce, please,” she begged, her fingers squeezing the head of the bed enough to make her knuckles white. “Please.”_

_He pressed his erection against her center, and with one slow movement of his hips, slid over the small bundle of nerves. God….he loved her more than anything in the world._

_He gritted his teeth against her shoulder so he would not scream. She was incredibly tight. He stood still, deep inside her - as deep as he could go- because he knew that was how she liked it. She liked to feel it there, filling her, deep inside her - deep enough for her to almost taste it. But then it would be too much, too hot, too tight, too wet, and he would have to move._

_"Diana, I love you"_

 

_She chuckled softly at his exclamation and pushed back against him again, deliberately squeezing her inner muscles around him, pulling another scream from him that ran the fine line between pleasure and pain._

_"I love you, Bruce."_

 

_He let out a sigh and remained perfectly still, letting her fuck him, slowly, and so skillfully that it made him sigh and moan and cry her name against her sweaty, slippery skin._

_“Are you happy?” she murmured, running her thin fingers lightly over her belly. It was a caress meant to show affection._

_"Yes, I'm happy," he said  partly because it was true, but mostly because it was what she wanted to hear, and he'd give her whatever she wanted. Everything ... "Do you want to marry me, princess?"_  

_She looked at him for a long time, not moving, then shook her head. "Do you want to?"_  

_He grabbed a lock of tangled hair and twisted around his finger. "If that's what you want, that's what I want."_

 

_She held his hand in her hair and brought it to her mouth. She kissed the back of his fingers, then sucked and nibbled lightly on the tip of his middle, watching his eyes go dark and smoky. "Not yet," she said. "Maybe ... later, maybe someday, but not yet."_

_He swallowed and looked away from her._

_"You know I love you," he whispered._  

_He said it so hard it hurt. He never told any other woman he had loved them, at least not in that way. Not with that intensity. She laughed and he looked at her, already a little hurt and ready to be angry. She was smiling, the gold spots on her eyes glittering with amusement. She raised her hand and caressed his cheek._  

_"I know, my dark knight, I know"_

 

_(…)_

 

_When he was with her, there was no darkness, only light. Bruce had a way of chasing the shadows of his eyes and protecting her from the heat with a lingering look or a gentle touch._  

_They were never meant to be what they were. They challenged the expectations of the world and the laws set by fate to stay together. Fate would say that they were very different and that soul mates are the same. Could harsh passion unbalance the scales of fate?_  

_He said he wanted to marry her. Because all he wanted was to give her what she gave him. Every love she gave him made him feel less miserable and lonely._  

_He took her hand, looking moody and a little embarrassed at the whole thing, on an ordinary day when they were watching a silly movie at her house._  

_It was a happy moment._  

_Diana realized she was crying when he leaned over and kissed the corner of her eyes, licking the tears away. He did not ask what was wrong - he knew - he just suggested they leave. The implied implication was there in her eyes and she felt her heart racing a little. A year together and he could still do it to her without a touch or a word. It was rather humiliating._

 

_"Tell me," Bruce whispered into her ear._  

_Diana arched her back, her fingers grasping the wrought iron from the headboard of the bed as he moved inside her with slow, deep movements. She made the mistake of admitting that she had something to say but that she had given up. "Nevermind."_  

_"Tell me, Diana," he persisted. He watched her face as he pushed inside her slowly, almost softly, with a rhythm he knew drove her crazy. "What were you saying? What didn’t you tell me? "_  

_"Nothing," she whimpered._  

_"Do not be shy with me, my love," he said. He ran his tongue lightly into the hollow at the base of her throat. "There's no one else here. Only us. Tell me."_  

_"You ... evil man ... arrogant,” she screamed as he pushed once, hard and deep enough to almost hit her cervix._

  _"That does not sound like a declaration of love, princess," he mutteeds with a mischievous gleam in his eyes._  

 

_She pressed her lips to his neck just below the ear and whispered, "You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." He let out a quick breath and his fingers dug into her hips._  

_She licked the curve of his ear and tightened her legs around his waist. "But that's not why I love you," she said._  

_"Why do you love me?" he asked, pressing his mouth to her shoulder, kissing her tenderly._  

_"I love who you are, Bruce," she told him. "All that makes you who you are. Because you're the most wonderful man I've ever met in my life."_

 

_Diana rolled on the bed so that she mounted him; he was deeper in this position, sharper, almost too much. She moaned and a small cry escaped as she tilted her back and rolled her hips._  

_"It's love made up of ... a thousand touches ... a hundred conversations ... a million shared looks," she said, her breath catching in pleasure as she moved over him._

_She tossed her head back and let her eyes close, her palms pressed to her chest, her hips swinging slowly over him, taking him with agonizingly slow impulses and a level of skill consummated over the years doing exactly that. She knew every touch that made him tremble, every word that made his breath come faster, every way to move, that brought him to the edge of the razor's delight and had his blood flowing hot and fast in his veins._

 

_He knew the same things about her and had learned the same way. He slid his hands up her thighs to her hips, where he held her and helped her move, guiding her a little._  

_"What else,” he whispered. "Tell me more"_  

_She opened her eyes and looked directly into his silver eyes._

_"I would never change you ... even if I could."_

 

_He smiled and laughed a bit out of breath, pushing himself to find her._

_"Not even a little?"_  

_"No," she said, and he was able to see that she was serious. "You're an arrogant jerk ... sometimes ... most of the time. If I took that away ... that would make you ... somebody else._  

_Bruce laughed again. It's not every day that your girlfriend calls you an arrogant idiot while she stirs her brain, he thought with amusement._  

_"I'm serious," Diana said, putting her face in his hands and leaning in to kiss him._  

_"I know you are," he said, his eyes still laughing at her. "That's why it's funny."_  

_"I want you," she breathed against his lips._  

_"You have me," he said._  

_"Not just for sex," she said. "For everything."_

 

_He pushed against her, feeling the first vibrating contractions that announced his orgasm. "I know," he told her, and he did._

_They had spent a lot of time together in bed, or fucking wherever they were, but there was always more between them than just that. If it was just sex, they would not be like that, just like they were now._  

_She moaned and arched her back, her black curls cling to her back like a chain, and her orgasm was smooth with gentle, pulsing fingers. She fell forward into his chest. "I want to grow old with you," she whispered against his damp skin._  

_Bruce closed his eyes, squeezing them after each spasm of his climax. He smoothed the palms of his hands against her back, inhaling the faint scent of her perfume as he tried to catch his breath._

_"If we grow old," he whispered against her ear, "We'll do it together."_

* * *

 

 Y _ou asked me for forgiveness and I rejected you._

_I wanted you to understand that I was suffering._

_You left your scent on the sheets_

_I would give anything to be in your arms_

_And I tried to hate you, but the anger is gone_

_Good memories outweigh hate and resentment._

_I forgive you, you do not know what you did_

_I forgive you_

_Now it's time to move on._

_I forgive you_

_You did not understand if it was right or wrong._

_I love you_

_You'll always live in my heart._

[Music by Maître Gims - Je Te Pardonne (feat. Sia)](https://youtu.be/_QguoUKqFVo)

 

 


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